The Indian Covid-19 variant has been found in two patients who are undergoing treatment at Dhaka North City Corporation Covid-19 dedicated hospital.
Hospital Director Brigadier General AKM Nasir confirmed the matter to the reporters on Friday.
"We have detected the Indian variant in two patients, who recently returned from India. Their samples have been sent to the National Institute of Diseases of the Chest and Hospital [NIDCH] for testing," he said, adding that the patients were kept under strict surveillance.
On May 8, the first six cases of the highly infectious coronavirus variant were detected in Jessore, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS). They recently visited India and were kept in isolation upon return to Bangladesh.
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The authorities then extended the closure of the land borders with its neighbor for passengers.
The Indian strain of the virus was detected in a sample test at Evercare Hospital in Dhaka [on Friday?] and it has been published on Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data (GISAID), said chief scientific officer of IEDCR ASM Alamgir.
Two more cases of the Indian Covid-19 variant were detected at the Genome Centre of Jessore University of Science and Technology.
The Indian variant has been found in Dhaka at a time when daily infections and deaths are declining in Bangladesh since the country’s second wave peaked around a month ago.
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The World Health Organization (WHO) has said that the activation of more infectious variants in India is the reason Covid-19 cases are spiralling in the country.
According to Indian media, the UK variant B.1.1.7, South Africa variant B.1.351, and Indian variants, B.1.617, B.1.617.1, B.1.617.2, B.1.617.3, and B.1.618 are together worsening the situation.
Bangladesh previously identified the UK, South Africa and Brazil variants. But the detection of the Indian variants would be alarming, according to the government and public health experts.